Pound-for-pound

Pound-for-pound, Saginaw is Michigan's basketball city

Two of top three teams in class A from Saginaw

26 October 2007

greatlakeshoops.com

Saginaw, for many just a drive-through city halfway between metropolitan Detroit and that geographically ambiguous area Michiganders call “up north”, is the Roy Jones, Jr. of Michigan basketball.

No city in Michigan can claim to be its equal on the hardwood—not Flint, not Detroit, not Lansing, not Grand Rapids. Not even the basketball Mecca that is Wyandotte (tongue firmly planted in cheek).

Saginaw, pound-for-pound, is Michigan’s basketball city.

Roughly half the size of Flint and Lansing and less than 15 times Detroit’s junior, Saginaw could field a basketball team of natives that would be unmatched for a city its size.

How about these five: Mark Macon, Jason Richardson, Anthony Roberson, Kenyon Martin (yeah, he was born there), and Darvin Ham.

The aforementioned players are all current or former members of the NBA.

But, we still need a bench, right? How about DeeAndre Hulett, Terrance Roberson, Preston Murphy, Tanoris Shepherd, Eugene Seals, Brian Moten, Robert Brooks and Dar Tucker?

Any time, any place.

And Stevie Wonder can sing the national anthem (yeah, he is from Saginaw, too.)

“I feel like (Saginaw) is unique because it’s so little and still produces some of the top athletes in the state,” said Arthur Hill’s Latreze Mushatt (lower left), a senior and one of those top athletes in Michigan. “I feel we are (the best) because you can't expect to come play a team from here and think their style is the same as the team you just played; (Saginaw teams) are very versatile.”

True, teams from Saginaw are unique, individually, but there is one trait that they share—winning.

Consider that the last two state champions in class A, the state’s biggest stage, came from Saginaw—Arthur Hill in 2006 and Saginaw High in 2007.

Saginaw Buena Vista, our #1-ranked class C team, won two state championships in 2004 and 2006.

Last season, Saginaw Nouvel was runner-up, losing late to a hot-shooting squad from Bath in the class C championship game.

Oh, and Bridgeport, Saginaw High’s neighbor to the north, isn’t exactly chopped liver. The Bearcats were ranked in the top ten in class B last year before bowing out to Flint Southwestern Academy in the regionals.

“We have in the city us and Arthur Hill, BV and Nouvel outside of the city, and you could count Bridgeport, too,” said up-and-coming Saginaw High sophomore, Christian Vaughn, who posits a theory about how Saginaw has concentrated its talent into fewer schools. “That makes five schools that were in the top teams in the state last year in their classes.

“Detroit has a bunch of schools and the talent is more spread out, Flint also has a lot more schools than us, as well as Lansing and Grand Rapids. The talent here is less spread out which makes for better teams.”

And while it is obviously true that those cities have many more schools, it’s not as if Saginaw is stockpiling kids in an ever-decreasing number of schools. In fact, for its population—just under 60,000—Saginaw has a commensurate number of schools (three public high schools serving about 3200 students) to accommodate it.

It seems clear, then, that there must be a common thread that weaves its way through these schools' basketball programs.

I point to three things: toughness, talent and teaching.

This is the best way to explain Saginaw’s success--and toughness comes first for a reason.

Last season I overheard a prominent Big Nine coach, disgusted with his team’s performance in the first half of a non-league game, remark: “That’s the difference between us and the city teams.”

He was talking about the toughness that is often seen in the players at many city schools, and something that Saginaw has in spades.

“We have ‘dawg’ in our players,” said Arthur Hill senior guard, Tyrie Wooten. “We don’t back down from no team or no one and we compete. No matter what your name is when you play us or ‘The High’, you are just a regular player. We also play the best defense out of any other city in the state.

“That’s the most important thing about Saginaw: we lock-up!”

Wooten’s backcourt mate expressed similar feelings about his city, but speaks about basketball like Darwin wrote about the natural world.

“Everyone pretty much grew up together,” said Maurice Jones-Cooper, one of the top guards in Michigan in the 2010 class. “We all played against and with each other and we all started playing at an early age; so, it was either get better or get left behind.”

And so, by the time these kids get to high school, many of them already possess a competitive edge—an advantage that great coaches like Lou Dawkins, Warren Wood and Greg McMath are all too eager to exploit.

"I believe (that Saginaw is the best basketball city in the state) because we are so small and our competitive natures are so great," said Dawkins, who played for Tubby Smith at the University of Tulsa. "It makes us to be some of the better players in the country...I've heard stories of the Tony Smiths and I was blessed to assist with Anthony Roberson and to be the point man in coaching Larry Wright, Draymond Green, Josh Southern, Daniel West, Christian Vaughn, Mike Green and many more. In a couple of years I will be thrilled to death to coach my youngest son Dorian Dawkins.

"I am the luckiest coach in the nation."

However you choose to explain it away, Saginaw might just be a little bit better.

“(Saginaw’s) coaches…and fan support, I believe, is better than anyone else’s,” said Vaughn, never at a loss for words. “You put all that together and you have the best city for basketball in Michigan.”

Small gyms, big thrills

Take away the swag of the team's respective mascots, and casual fans would be hard-pressed to point out a difference between gyms at Saginaw High and Arthur Hill.

They are both exceptionally small, with packed bleachers under both baskets and a loft that is usually full not too long after tip-off.

Unless, of course, you plan on seeing the High vs. Hill game. In that case, you better have media credentials or the original plans for the aging schools to find an unguarded entrance.

If it's not the best rivalry game in Michigan, it's close.

If you had the opportunity to see High vs. Hill this past season, you would have seen no fewer than nine current or future division one players including Dar Tucker (Depaul), Josh Southern (Boston College) and Draymond Green (committed to MSU).

Further, you would have seen two dynamic games with each team getting a regular season win before Saginaw finally asserted its dominance through depth against Arthur Hill in the district finals.

You can be sure, year in and year out, that if Saginaw High and Arthur Hill are on the court at the same time, on that night it's the best game Michigan has to offer.

Q & A with the Teacher

Lou Dawkins, one of the state's best coaches, is a master at managing talent and getting the maximum out of his players. His answers to a few poorly-worded questions should give you some idea of what makes Saginaw "The High":

Great Lakes Hoops: Heading into the start of the season, compare this year's team at this point with last year's championship squad.

Coach Dawkins: One thing's for sure, we don't have the size like last year with Big Josh and Deonte (Wesley) departing off to college. We are still big, long, and of course, quick.

GLH: Obviously everyone knows about Draymond (Green) and Daniel (West), but who is the player you most expect to step out of the shadows this season?

CD: It may be that a few players have breakout seasons. Courtney Washington played exceptional during last year's run. He has grown 2-3 inches since last year and is playing with a lot of heart. Jimmy Davis is one of the best shooters in the class of 2009. Last year, on junior Varsity, he averaged 23 points and four rebounds per game. Christian Vaughn may be the strongest guard in his class in Valley. He averaged 19 points, seven rebounds and two steals a game (on JV). Both will be very instrumental in our run for 2008.

GLH: Does having so many talented players, especially in the backcourt, make your job easier (better players make for better teams) or harder (there's only so much playing time to go around)?

CD: Well, I love coaching here at Saginaw High. I know a lot of the youths around Saginaw and I hope they and their parents respect and trust me to take care of their sons. We know you can't win without talent and I am truly blessed with the talent that we have had over the years and the talent that we have coming. As a coach, if you don't mix player chemistry with your chemistry it will be impossible for your mission to be completed. I love my players to death. I ask them during season to give me two hours of hard work and in return I will give them 36 years of what I have learned.

GLH: I remember watching your team at Oakland University this past season when you played 12 different players in the first half. Is this a purely defensive strategy?

CD: Defense is the key to all locked doors. If you can get your guys to play hard "D" and make it a living hell for the opposing team, making them feel as though there are 15 players out there, then as a team and a coach we have done our job.